Stock folders are generally well known today and are provided in a variety of colors and in standard formats. Such stock products are created from a blank of material to which at least one and usually two pockets are provided on the inner face of the blank. The pockets are generally formed from the same sheet or blank and are then folded over onto the blank and sealed to the blank to create the pocket.
Such folders are used in a number of applications from academic, such as in a elementary, middle school, high school or collegiate environment to education purposes including seminars and technical symposiums. In addition, folders have also been used in the past to hand out information on products and services in the hopes of inducing purchases or sales of such products or services.
These prior art folders are provided in a broad spectrum of colors and can even have different finishes such as glossy or a metallic appearance in order to supplement the product of topic offering. In addition, such prior art products may also be provided with textural or tactile features so as to resemble grains in leather or wood, again all in an effort to produce or tailor the communication vehicle to the audience or presenter to garner more attention for the products or services being offered.
Examples of such prior art folders include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,870,223, 4,109,850, 4,301,962, 4,731,142, 4,989,777 and 5,836,507. Each of these prior art constructions are constructed from a single blank of material. That is, the portion making up the folder and which comprises the pocket are part of the same blank. The portion which becomes the pocket is then folded onto the folder portion to create the pocket portion. Such constructions normally require the manufacturer to purchase expensive and complicated folding equipment in order to process and fold the pocket portion, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,439,436 and 6,063,226.
One of the difficulties with such stock folder products is that the user of such products must order the folders in large lots, or must select from a generic stock inventory that may only have a predetermined number of colors or finish options. If a presenter or distributor would prefer to have at least limited information printed on the folder, such as the name of the company or presenter or to have certain colors or finishes that represent the company, such as to emphasize the trade dress, then the user is stuck with the unfortunate option of having to order such products in large quantities typically greater than 50 and more often in the hundreds as the set up for the production folders is complex and orders in the hundreds of units is normally required by the manufacturer due to the complexity associated with such set up of equipment. This dilemma has thwarted the growth of the folder industry and prevented the use of this tool from expanding its communication potential to users of the product.
Attempts at personalization or individualization have sometimes been elaborate, such as that illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,038 in which a personalized sheet is printed and then inserted so that the personalized information is then visible through die cut windows in the blank. As one might imagine, this limits the amount of personalization that can be provided and also requires that the information be aligned with the windows in the folder assembly so that it is visible. In addition, to the steps of folding the blank and the equipment required therefore, in order to manufacture such a product one needs to add additional die cutting stations and then is faced with the challenge of inserting the personalized sheet of information. In preparing for a meeting, even a small meeting, having to insert 10 sheets into 10 different folders can be time consuming, particularly if one is rushed in trying to get to the meeting.
The foregoing prior art products also suffer from the fact that they are provided only in standard configurations, choices of only one or two products having only one or two pockets. This may require the presenter to over stuff the pockets provided with the folder or alternatively to have to distribute multiple folders in order to achieve the communication that is intended, that is in order to discuss multiple products or services multiple folders need to be provided to the attendees of the meeting. In addition, attendees may also wish to include materials collected at the event such as notes, brochures or other collateral material and are faced with stuffing the material into already tight spaces or simply dropping them internally of the folder which can lead to the materials being lost as they are not secured by a pocket. The ability to add additional pockets or the ability to position pockets in different areas of the folder is simply not an option or if it is it may be an expensive option requiring the manufacturer to purchase additional equipment, rework existing equipment or obtain further tooling in order to produce what may only be a single order.
Another other problem faced by users of such stock folders is that they have virtually no personalized or individualized information. For example, in a typical introductory business meeting between two entities, the attendees may include an executive, members of sales and marketing and production personnel. Distributing the exact same information to each attendee may result in the information simply being deposited into the attendee's files, instead of the presenter's intent of delivering a specific message to each participant. In addition, any printing that can occur is limited to the amount of space of the blank not covered by the pocket. That is, when processed, blanks are printed on one side (simplex printed) and when the pocket is folded over the blank any printing would be limited only to the upper portion of the blank, thereby limiting the amount of information that can be received by the recipient.
Publications, patents and patent applications are referred to throughout this disclosure. All references cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference.
What is needed therefore is a product that can be produced in a convenient manner that overcomes the foregoing drawbacks. In addition, what is needed is a product that can be customized and tailored to the individual needs of a customer or presenter and one which enables the customer or presenter to convey personalized or individualized messages so as to increase the impact of the delivered materials.